"Yes."

"I should think they'd feel honored by such a visitor."

"Probably they did, for Mrs. Rockwell made him a present of a gold watch."

"What!" exclaimed Roswell and his mother in concert.

"It's true. I sent him out to ask the time to-day, when he pulled out a new gold watch with an air of importance, and told me the time."

"Was it a good watch?"

"A very handsome one. It must have cost, with the chain, a hundred and twenty-five dollars."

"The idea of a boot-black with a gold watch!" exclaimed Roswell, with a sneer. "It's about as appropriate as a pig in a silk dress."

"I can't understand it at all," said Mrs. Crawford. "It can't be that he's a poor relation of theirs, can it?"

"I should say not. Mr. Rockwell wouldn't be likely to have a relation reduced to blacking boots."